One of the most popular electronic early-warning devices available to motorists is the radar-detection device. A radar-detection device senses radar signals emitted by radar guns used by various law-enforcement agencies to sense and gage the speed of passing motor vehicles. The range of a typical radar-sensing device exceeds that of most radar guns, thus providing an early warning to motorists of the radar presence. This gives a speeding motorist typically ample time to slow a vehicle before entering the range of a radar site.
Aside from radar detection, there are a variety of other sensing technologies that may be used to provide a motorist with information that relates to safety in operating a vehicle, or other warning data of impending hazards or conditions which may affect the immediate roadway or a stretch of roadway some distance ahead of the motorist.
While many types of vehicle sensors have been developed, they are available in the art in a somewhat limited fashion. The systems are generally singular in the technologies used and in implementation parameters. That is to say that most vehicular sensing systems are standalone systems such as a radar proximity-sensing system that is implemented separately from other types of systems such as, perhaps, a compass navigational system. Therefore, a motorist that whishes to benefit by virtue of having his or her vehicle equipped with multi-sensing capability must do so at considerable expense, purchasing and installing plural devices.
What is clearly needed is a method and apparatus for integrating various sensor capabilities into one unit thereby providing a platform capable of supporting the various technologies. Such a system would be less expensive to deploy, and more convenient to operate than multiple separate systems.